Hi Sue. As
@azure has mentioned, the majority of us do need to fund our own meter and strips, the latter being the expensive item. Medics will give all sorts of novel reasons for advising you not to test, from "you don't need to, you're not on insulin" - "it will make your fingers sore" - "it will only worry you". The real reason is the cost of test strips.
Many of us use this meter
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring, although I buy mine from Amazon, it is simple to use and has the cheapest test strips of the lot. I would certainly not say that your HbA1c is too low!
It is important to test yourself, that way you are in control and know what your levels are, more importantly, what foods affect them. It is unusual for blood sugar to drop too low while on Metformin (known as a hypo), so I think your GP should be looking at other reasons for your dizziness..don't be fobbed off as it may well be completely unrelated.
Once you get your meter let us know, and we can advise you how often to test.
